lanzerotti-spina



March 8, 1932. ILANZEROTTI-SPINA ROTARY ENGINE Fil ed Oct. 26, 1929 4Sheets-Sheet '1 Wong.

ROTARY ENGINE March 8, 1932.

4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 26. 1929 u 0 l n ROTARY ENGINE F'i'led Oct. 26, 1929 x 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 wane v March 8, 1932. E. LANZ EROTTl-SPINA 1,343,754

' ROTARY ENGINE Filed Oct. 26, 1929 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented 1.932" w filmransraras nrroan mzrmorrr srma, or Lennon, mremun noramr moms.

Application iled october 26, 1929, Serial No. 403,761, and'in Great Britain October 80, 1888.

This invention relates to rotary engines operating with fluids, that is to say rotary pumps or blowers and also motors, of the kind in which the volume of a cylinder is swept by radial blades traversing and making joint with an eccentric drum or rotor.

Since the blade not only slides with respect to the drum but also tilts, the width of the, narrow slot must be suflicient to allow for maximum tilt; consequently when the blade.

is less tilted there will be clearance in the slot between the blade and the drum and-means must be provided to make the joint. According to, this invention I cause the blade in effeet to expand resiliently and I lodge loose packing rods in grooves of larger section than the rods, formed in the edges of the drum slot. More specifically I use a ri id blade and provide it on one or both sides with a spring blade set so that it normally tends to spring away from the ri id blade. I prefer to pro vide the spring lades on both sides since the clearance on both sides can then be taken up by a very light spring member irrespective of the variations in the position of the blade relative to the leadin and trailing edges of the drum slot cause by inertia effects and the method of drive. The loose packing rods each have a fiat side in contact so with the blade and are conveniently of segmental section. When the pump or the like is in action the rods are either thrown outwards by centrifugal force or driven inwards by pressure difference. In either case the flat side is urged against the blade and the other side makes contact with the surface of the groove thus sealing the joint. In desi ing the engine the parts should be dimensioned so that the centrifugal force or the inward pressure predominates and a definite seal obtained; it will be understood that in some cases, one force may preponderate during one part of the revolution and the other during the other part. I ma also use the resilient expansion of the bla e' or the loose packing rods alone the former being adapted for use with low pressures and the latter with high pressures. The described arrangements are suitable for use with liquid or gaseous media.

In thepreferred form of the invention I employ "a diametral blade in which case owing to the eccentricity of the rotor, theslot through which the blade passes on one side needs to move circumferentially relatively to that on the other and according to this inven' tion I provide forsuch relative motion by using a rotor consisting of two concentric drums one fitting closely within the other; the blade traverses a narrow-slot and makes oint with one drum on one side, and the other drum on the other side, while each drum has a slot wide enough to allow for the,described relative movement on the side opposite to the narrow slot.

Some embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which Figures 1 and 2 are cross sections of two embodiments showing separately the two ar rangements of packing respectively, and also the double drum.

Figures 3, 4 and 5 are longitudinal sections of three different arran em'ents of engine; Figure 1 can be regarde as bein taken on the line I -I of Figure 3, and F 1 re 2 as being taken as to the top right'han part on the line 11-11 of Fi re 5 and as to therest on the line IIII of Figure 4. I v

Figure 6 as to the left hand half is a detail on an enlarged scale of Figure 2, and asto the right hand half a section showing the complete packing in use. v

Figure 7 is a section as tothe to right hand part on the line VII-VII of igures 4 and 5 and as to the rest on the line VIP-VII of Figure 3.

Figure 8 is a section on the line V'IIL-VIII of Figure 5. I

Figure 9-is a as a pump may be caused to deliver in the same direction in whichever direction it is driven.

All the engines illustrated comprise a shaft 1 carrying a diametral blade 2 which pases through the shaft and sweeps the volume of a cylinder 3 coaxial with the shaft. The eccentric rotor comprises an inner drum 4 sectional view of a valve device whereby any of the engines when used closely fitting over sufiicient of its circumferenoe to make a tight joint, but movable within, an outer drum 5. The drums 4 and 5 have narrow slots respectively at 6 and 7 on opposite sides, and wlde slots respectively at 8 and 9 on opposite sides to the narrow slots. As shown the drum makes contact with the cylinder over an are 10 and the blade is therefore out of contact with cylinder during its traverse of the are as at 11; accordingly the length of the are 10 must be greater t an the length of the slot 8 to prevent by-passing. Further, the thickness of the outer drum 5 must be sulficient to prevent the blade escaping entirely when in a position 180 to that shown in Figures 1 and 2.

As shown in Figure 1, 'on each side of the rigid blade 2 is laid a thin spring blade 14 of identical shape to the rigld blade 2 and set so as to spring away from the blade 2 as seen at the bottom of the figure. In this way a tight joint between the blade and the drums at the slots 6, 7 is always maintained.

' ing in use together. Here a s ring blade 14 is used on each side of the rig1d blade 2, but instead of making joint direct with the edges of the drumslots, as shown on the right hand side they bear against the flat faces of segmental sectioned rods 15 which are lodged in axialgrooves 16 in the drums 4, 5.

Inftlie engines illustrated, the out ut for a given size is increased by using the lnterior of the rotor. For this purpose the drum 4 5 is arranged to touch the shaft land ports 17, 18 are provided in one or both end walls.

As shown in Figure 3 the engine may be arranged for the drive to be transmitted through any one of the three rotating members. In this figure the cylinder 3 is in one piece with one end wall 19,'whicl1 is bushed at 20 to carry the shaft 1. The end Wallis hollow and contains passages 44, 'leading from the ports 17, 18 to the connections 21,

22 through openings 12, 13 as shown in Figure 7. The other end wall 23 is bolted on and bushed at 24 to carry a sleeve 25 made in one'with the outer drum 5. This sleeve is bushed internally at 26 to carry a shaft 27 made in one with the inner drum 4. Thus the drive can be transmitted to the shaft 1, thesleeve 25 or the shaft 27 and those members not used can be cutoff close and covered in. Afurther alternative is to drive the outer or the inner drum by providing in the grooves in the end wallthough this provision is more important-in high speed pumps such as air blowers. i

In Figure 4 there are two detachable end walls 30, 31 both of which. are hollow and enclose passages 44 and 45 leading from the ports 17, 18 to the connections 21, 22 through the o enings 12, 13. The drums 4, 5 are carried eyond the blade at both ends and there form complete rings and the shaft 1 is carried through both end walls. 7 A further construction intermediate between Figures 3 and 4 is possible in which the inner drum 4 has a shaft such as 27 in Figure 3 while the outer drum 5 is supported in grooves at both ends as in Figure 4.

In order to obtain the least fluctuation in flow, particularly when liquids are being dealt with, I prefer to drive through the shaft. To reduce fluctuations still further, I use a lurality of coaxial cylinders with common earing members between each two adjacent cylinders, a common shaft, and common inlets and outlets. The drums and blades are arranged to produce the least possible fluctuation of flow. With all the drums concentric the blades will be set at'the smallest possible angular intervals i. e.

180/n where n; is the number of cylinders.

Such a construction is exemplified in Figure 5 which shows a double pump having its drums. concentric and its blades 2a, 2b relatively at right angles so that at the instant when one is' delivering at the maximum rate the other is delivering at the minimum rate and a substantially constant rate of flow is obtained. In the illustrated construction there are two coaxial cylinders 3a, 3?; each in one with a hollow end wall 19a, 19?) respectively provided as before with assages I 44 and 45 and openings 12 and 18. e c ylinders are bolted to a hollow centre sectlon 32 which carries the connections 21, 22 which communicate through suitable passages with the ports 17 18 and with the cylinder 0penings 12 13. The shafts 1a, 1b are conveniently detachably coupled at the centre to permit assembly of the pump and I prefer to use an Oldham coupling 33 as this ensures that the blades are at a correct relative angle and allows identical shafts to be used. Alternatively a single shaft may be used by employing a constant diameter from end to end of the'cylinders, or by usinga collar in place of one of the enlarged bosses shown.

Where the pump is driven by a reversible engine and needs nevertheless to deliver in the same direction, I may provide a system of valves to ensurethis. The device shown in Figure 9 embodies such a valve system and can be applied to any of the pumps illustrated. The connections 21, 22 communicate respectively with chambers 34, provided respectively with automatic inlet valves 36, 37 and automatic outlet valves 38, 39. The inlet valves open from a chamber 40 in which is provided the main inlet 41 and the outlet valves open into'a chamber 42 provided with a main outlet 43. If now the pump rotates so that 21 is the suction branch, the fluid flows in at 41 through chamber 40, valves 35, and chamber 34, and flows out through connection 22, chamber 35, valve 39, chamber 42, and outlet 43. If the rotation of the pump is reversed, the flow is again in through 41 and chamber 40 and thence through valve 37, chamber 35, and connection 22, and the outflow is through connection 21, chamber 34, valve 38, chamber 42 and outlet 43.

What I claim is 1. A rotary engine for operation with fluids comprising a cylinder, a shaft concentric therewith, radial blades in said cylinder connected with said shaft, aneccentric rotor contacting with said cylinder having slots therein with grooved edges traversed by said blades, and loose radially movable packing rods of substantially smaller radial section than said grooves interposed between said blades and said grooves.

2. A rotary engine for operation with fluids comprising a cylinder, a shaft concentric therewith, radial blades in said cylinder connected with said shaft, an eccentric rotor contacting with said cylinder having slots therein traversed by said radial blades, and a spring blade on one side of each said radial blade and of substantially the same shape as said radial blade set to spring away from said radial blade.

3. A rotary engine for operation with fluids comprising a cylinder, a shaft concentric therewith, radial blades in said cylinder connected with said shaft, an eccentric rotor contacting with said cylinder having slots therein traversed by said radial blades, and a spring blade on each side of each said radial blade and of substantially the same shape as said radial blade set to spring away from said radial blade.

4. A rotary engine for operation With fluids comprising a cylinder, a shaft concentric therewith, radial blades in said cylinder connected with said shaft, an eccentric rotor'contacting with said cylinder having shes therein with grooved edges traversed by said radial blades, a spring blade on each side of each said radial blade set to spring away from said radial blade, and loose rods of smaller section than said grooves interposed between said spring blades and said grooves.

5. In a rotary engine for operation with fluids having a cylinder, radial blades and a slotted eccentric rotor traversed by said blades, means for packing the joints between said blades and said rotor comprising loose ing carried in a slot in said shaft, and anv eccentric rotor making contact with said cylinder and said shaft and twice traversed by said blades.

7. A rotary engine for operation with fluids comprising a cylinder, a shaft concentric therewith, radial blades in said cylinder connected with said shaft, an eccentric rotor contacting with said cylinder having slots therein with grooved edges traversed by said radial blades, a spring blade on one side of each said radial blade set to spring away from 'said radial blade, and loose rods of smaller section than said grooves interposed in said grooves.

8. In a rotary engine comprising a central bearing member, a pair of coaxial cylinders one secured on each side of said central member, an eccentric rotor in each said cylinder, and a diametral blade in each said cylinder traversing the rotor therein, said blades being at right angles to one another, the combination of a shaft in each said cylinder operatively connected with the corresponding blade and projecting into said central hearing member and an Oldham coupling in said central bearing member connecting said shafts.

9. A rotary engine for operation with fluids comprising a'cylinder, a shaft concentric therewith, a radial blade connected with said shaft, an eccentric rotor contacting with said cylinder having a slot with grooved edges traversed by said blade, and loose radially movable packing rods of substantially smaller section than said grooves interposed between said blade and said grooves.

10. A rotary engine for operation with fluids comprising a cylinder, a shaft concentric therewith, a. radial blade in said cylinder connected with said shaft, an eccentric rotor contacting with said cylinder having slots therein traversed by said radial blade, and a spring blade on one side of said radial blade and of substantially the same shape as said radial blade set to spring away from said radial blade.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

ETTORE LANZEROTTI-SPINA. 

